IF THE ONLY PRAYER YOU SAID IN YOUR LIFE WAS "THANK YOU", THAT WOULD SUFFICE. ~Meister Eckhart

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

12.30.09

The essence of all growth is a willingness to change for the better and then an unremitting willingness to shoulder whatever responsibility this entails. ~Bill W

Today I am grateful…

  • for the lenses ordered for my new eyeglasses. Even with a $50 discount they cost close to a month’s rent. Ridiculous. Good news—I may get to barter for my next pair.
  • for AA meetings. They are the best show in town.
  • for my friend, the editor, schooling me on the overuse of the word ‘that’. She said it was the one of the most overused word. If a sentence can be stated with out ‘that’, then drop it.
  • for friends who find Scrabble and flatulence fun. Seriously.
  • for a heart that stays light despite the fact my mind wants to make it fearful

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Lying can be like sailing choppy waters. The more we lie, the higher the waves get, and the harder the sailing. When we lie, we feel we've failed ourselves and others. We have to work hard to cover up our lies, and the fear of someone finding out is always with us.
If we ask God for courage to tell the truth, we can be like the sailboat on a clear and calm day. We can enjoy the small waves and the light warm breeze we've given ourselves. Honesty is a good habit, and is easy. With a little faith in our own worth, we can choose the calm waters' honesty and apply our creativity to new, growth-oriented activities instead of covering up old mistakes. ~Today’s Gift

10 comments:

Unknown said...

Honest is so much easier for me these days. When I lie, I add a burden to carry and it doesn't go away until I make it right. I don't like pain these days, if I can avoid it.

namaste

Ed G. said...

Willingness, responsibility and, honesty - probably some good principles to grow by. I really want to start a sentence with that but can't figure out how to do that.

Blessings and aloha...

Kathy M. said...

I want to be honest. But I also want to be kind. I admit sometimes I was cruel or selfish under the guise of being honest. Now I try to THINK before I speak, and ask myself if what I'm about to say is Thoughtful, Honest, Intelligent, Necessary and Kind. Thanks for your blog.

Leah said...

The glasses, are they coated in gold? Scrabble on db or that fancy phone ya got?

dAAve said...

That is one of the finest gratitude lists that I have seen today that will stick in my mind that I know of.

Scott W said...

Leah, the frames were $68, the lenses were $420!

Dave, back to bed for you my friend!

Syd said...

Nice about the sailboat. Flatulence and Scrabble--gotta love it. I downloaded a Fart app for my IPhone that has a timer. It is pretty funny.

Mary Christine said...

I used to have a boss and mentor who would edit my papers and just slash almost all the "that"s. It was very educational for me.

Glad your friends like scrabble, not so sure about the flatulence though.

Elizabeth Mahlou said...

I find honesty the only policy for me because I just cannot REMEMBER things I make up! Truth is pretty easy to remember, even with a memory on the fritz.

Tall Kay said...

Happy New Year Scott! I'm home tonight and so grateful for the time to catch up on blogs. Your quotes and words of wisdom always touch my heart. May God bless you and bring us another exciting year of sobriety...ODAT. Hey, this is year we all meet! YeeHaw!